Teenagers and Cell Phone Chat Rooms

By Reprint - 2009-11-18

Teenagers are chatting up a storm unsupervised with an Internet chat room program for cellphones that has rapidly swept through the country and gained 900 000 users in just over a year since its launch in May last year.

News of the program has so far spread by word of mouth, although its growth is estimated at 6,500 new users registering per day, and the attraction, especially for teenagers, is the reduced cost of two cents a message.

Young users

Although chat rooms have been around for years on computers, they have gained a reputation as a gateway for paedophiles to gain access to unsuspecting children, resulting in the close monitoring of children’s Internet activities by parents.

However, with the onset of the Internet on cell phones, the task has become much harder, especially as parents struggle to keep up with the advances in technology - including Cell phone chat rooms and the popular teenage pursuit of texting and sending naked pictures to one another (Sexting)

Statistics released by Clockspeed Mobile (now MXit), the company that developed the chat program, show that in January 2006, when their user base was 400 000, 45 percent of users fell into the 12-17 age group, with the 18-25 group making up the bulk of users at 50 percent.

Safety steps

Clockspeed Mobile themselves have taken steps to ensure safety in their chat rooms, and have posted a list of safety tips when users enter chatrooms, and on their website.

“However,” says Alex Meiring, the creative director and an original team member of MXit, “in the end it’s up to the parents to communicate with their children about using the technology responsibly.

“At the moment, we have profanity filters in the teen chat rooms that block bad language, and a report abuse function on our website where users can report bad behaviour,” he says.

“We’ve also started advertising with Childline and their number appears on the screen while users log in, but this is a work in progress, as we are busy developing a web interface where users can add Childline as a contact and receive counselling online.

“We also have a list of safety tips for parents whose kids use MXit on our website.”

Joan van Niekerk, national co-ordinator of Childline, adds: “One of the biggest problems with chat rooms is the fact that they (the users) don’t know who they’re talking to. (Stranger Chat)

“Although Clockspeed has been responsible in posting warning signs in the chatrooms, there are still some children who will take chances by identifying themselves.

“The issue here is talking to children about the program,” says Van Niekerk, “and also more reaching out to parents about this technology. Developers of new technology need to take the responsibility of informing parents about the dangers.”

No harassment complaints have been made thus far.

“There are positives, though,” says Van Niekerk.

“Mxit has benefits, like having the news available, but parents need to take the initiative and monitor their children’s cell phone usage, which is easier to do than with a computer, where they can erase the Internet history.”

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